Europe

Since its establishment in 1984, the Institute has been working actively with human rights in Europe and Central Asia. For more than 25 years, we have together with the Faculty of Law at Lund University offered the Master’s Programme in International Human Rights Law.

Since the late 1990s, our extensive involvement has encompassed capacity development programmes aimed at fostering human rights transformations within institutions across Europe and Central Asia. These initiatives extend across academic institutions, national human rights institutions (NHRIs), government bodies, civil society organisations, as well as justice sector institutions. Notably, we have implemented regional training programmes focusing on human rights and gender equality, catering to professionals from the Western Balkans, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia.

In addition to our bi-lateral cooperation in the region, the Institute is co-organising the Academy for Young Professionals, involving participants from Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Sweden. Another regional engagement concerns our ongoing collaboration with academic and civil society partners in the Nordic and Eastern European States, funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Swedish Institute.

In terms of bilateral cooperation, the Institute has previously been engaged with actors in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Uzbekistan. We have also had partnerships with the NHRIs in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as with the Azerbaijan Young Lawyers’ Union.

Between 2010 and 2020, we cooperated with several academic institutions in Belarus through a comprehensive programme enhancing capacities to deliver high quality human rights education and research. Main results include the first Gender and Law courses run at universities in Belarus, and the establishment of a human rights centre producing multi-disciplinary research on topical human rights issues.

Since 1998, the Institute has cooperated with academic institutions in Turkey supporting human rights teaching and research capacity, and since 2018, with also municipalities to improve human rights work at local level by strengthening interaction between academic institutions, municipalities, and civil society organisations. As notable results, our seven partner municipalities have now passed City Council Decisions to become Human rights cities.

For more information about our activities and cooperations in Europe, please contact:

Jason Naum

Jason Naum

Regional Director, Europe and MENA, Deputy Director of Operations

Phone: +46 (0) 46 222 1237
E-mail: jason.naum@rwi.lu.se

Jason Naum is an international development and nonprofit organization management expert with over 20 years of experience successfully leading and strengthening the capacity of nonprofits, academic institutions, and independent state actors with a human rights mandate around the world. He has extensive experience in strategic planning, thought leadership, global philanthropy, human rights programming, capacity building, grant management and evaluation strategies for mission driven nonprofits.

Prior to RWI, Jason was the Managing Director of the Botstiber Institute, the Founding Chairman and Executive Director of LAB (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit focused on increasing opportunities for Philadelphia’s economically disadvantaged youth), as well as the Head of the National Human Rights Institutions Unit at RWI. He holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree from Lund University with a specialization in international human rights and humanitarian law.